Pakistan’s cyber crime police are telling shoppers to slow down. NCCIA says fake web shops and bogus social media stores are advertising bargains that do not exist, and that the aim is your money and your personal data.
A typical trap looks like a normal shop, or an Instagram or Facebook store with no history, selling goods well under the market price. Pay, or give a phone number and card details, and either nothing arrives or the details get used elsewhere.
The agency points to three hooks. Prices that look too low, huge discounts and countdown-style deals all push a buyer to decide fast. A seller you have never heard of who insists on payment up front deserves extra suspicion.
Its checklist: confirm the seller is real, look at what earlier customers wrote before you order, and keep to genuine, established websites. A shop with no reviews, or reviews that all read alike, is a reason to wait.
It follows a separate NCCIA alert about fake Rs. 13,000 reward messages in the prime minister’s name. A spokesperson said those texts hide risky links that can steal banking and personal details, and asked people to leave unknown links alone, to share no personal or banking details, and not to pass the messages on.
Black Friday falls on 27 November, and fake sale pages tend to multiply in the weeks before it. If a discount reaches you by message or social media ad, type the shop’s address yourself instead of tapping the link.
